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Review by Tim Blythman XGECU TL866II Universal Programmer We like the Microchip PICkit 4 for programming PICs and many Atmel parts (eg, AVRs). But there are times when you might need to program something else, and you don’t want to end up having to buy a different programmer for every type of chip you might come across. A low-cost universal programmer like the TL866 is the answer. T he PICkit range of programmers is indispensable when working with Microchip (and now Atmel) parts. The PICkit 4 is fast and versatile, while the Snap programmer is inexpensive and can program many chips that don’t need a high programming voltage. But if your interests span a broader range of chips, including EEPROMs as well as micros, there is an alternative. It is an excellent choice if you want to tinker with older components. You might have heard of the so-called “MiniPro” programmers; this is a common nickname for a range of programmers produced by a Chinese company called XGecu. We sourced our unit from what appears to be the official eBay XGecu store (user xgecupro; www.ebay.com.au/usr/xgecupro). The unit we are reviewing is the TL866II model. There are also the older TL866A and TL866CS models, plus the higher-performance T56 model. The one we ordered cost around $75 and took about three weeks to arrive. At the time of writing, the T56 costs around $220, while the TL866A and TL866CS are no longer available from XGecu. Other companies have cloned these older models, so any that are available are likely clones. Since the clones depend on XGecu’s control program (XGPro) to operate, XGecu’s fix appears simply to be ending support for these older programmers. Indeed, the control program can apparently detect and disable some of these clones. Thus, we can’t recommend the TL866A or TL866CS. 70 Silicon Chip The TL866II The TL866II consists of a grey box around 10cm long with a 40-pin ZIF (zero insertion force) socket at the top. Two LEDs indicate power (POW, red) and operation (RUN, yellow). The top of the case is notched for the ZIF socket handle, and a USB socket is opposite. A six-way header is available on one edge. This is for attaching an ICSP (in-circuit serial programming) header lead, to connect to a matching header on a PCB. Thus, the TL866II can be used to program DIP chips out-of-circuit, or just about any chip in-circuit, as long as an appropriate onboard header is present. The case is also marked with a notched IC outline to show the orientation of parts going into the ZIF socket. The unit feels weighty, and you can see two stacked PCBs through the hole for the header. All in all, it appears to be a well-made and compact piece of equipment, no larger than it needs to be. Just four screws hold the case together, so we whipped them off to take a peek inside. The two boards are sparsely but neatly laid out with surface-mounted components. Each pin on the ZIF socket is accompanied by a diode and transistor. This is necessary to cater for the variety of pin layouts that can be accepted. Different logic voltage settings are available, so presumably, these parts also handle level conversion. The two PCBs are joined by several socketed pin headers, and secured together by two soldered wire pins. The ZIF socket’s ability to work with such various chips with different pinouts depends on being able to drive any pin with the correct signal. This array of diodes and transistors help to do that. Australia's electronics magazine siliconchip.com.au Many components need a higher voltage (typically 9V-15V) to perform their programming sequences. These large inductors are part of the circuitry to generate these voltages. Two small TSSOP parts on the top PCB appear to be 16-channel LED drivers. The rear PCB has a large 100-pin QFP chip with its markings sanded off. Presumably, this is the microcontroller, the identity of which is being hidden to avoid being cloned. The rear PCB also sports an array of circuitry that also appears to be tied to each ZIF socket pin. There is also an AMS1117 3.3V regulator and a pair of MC34063 switchmode regulators. They are backed by several solid-looking inductors and surface-mounted electrolytic capacitors. This is evidently the boost circuitry used to generate the higher Vpp programming voltage used to program some PICs and EEPROMs. The microcontroller appears to have enough pins to drive any of the ZIF socket pins, giving the unit its flexibility and ease of use. Our unit arrived in a small cardboard box and included a 1m-long USB cable. Various kits are available; ours came with a six-way cable to suit the ICSP header, a PLCC IC extraction tool and a pair of IC adaptors for PLCC32 and SOIC16/SOP8 parts. Other packages are available with a variety of IC adaptors. These vary from the simple PCB-based DIP/SOIC and DIP/SOP adaptors (similar to what we stock in the Silicon Chip Online Shop, at siliconchip.com.au/Shop/18), through to those with PLCC sockets and even ZIF sockets that accept surface-mounting parts directly. What chips can it program? You can find the complete list of supported parts at www.xgecu.com/ MiniPro/TL866II_List.txt and over 16,000 parts are listed. Many of these include different package variants of the same chip, so the number is slightly inflated. But this list does include chips from over 150 manufacturers. In contrast, the device support list for MPLAB X 5.40 has around 3000 parts, including some devices which are not supported by any of the listed Microchip programmers. The TL866II (and other MiniPro devices) appears to focus on reading and writing various flash memories, EEPROMs, and similar parts. So it is a handy tool for backing up and restoring such devices. Almost 1000 Microchip microcontrollers are listed as supported, but most are quite old. For example, the list includes the PIC16C56, which dates back to the early 1990s. It doesn’t include many of the newer, enhanced core 8-bit Microchip parts, or even any PIC24s or PIC32s. So the TL866II is not the best way to program the latest microcontrollers. Over 1000 Atmel parts are listed, although this includes a majority of memory and EEPROM chips. The list includes favourites like the ATmega328, as used in the Arduino Uno, but not the slightly newer ATmega32u4, as used on the Leonardo board. Again, the list cannot be said to be up-to-date with recent parts. The Atmel list also includes several ATF-series PLDs (programmable logic devices), which are functionally equivalent to similar (GAL series) devices earlier produced by Lattice Semiconductor Corporation. Some of the Lattice GALs are also listed. PLDs can be considered to be smaller, simpler versions of FPGAs (field-programmable gate arrays). We reviewed Lattice’s iCEstick FPGA development board in April 2019 (see siliconchip.com.au/Article/11521). While FPGAs can be quite complex devices, PLDs are typically used for ‘glue logic’ functions, where one PLD can replace a handful of logic gate chips to save space. Such PLDs were used in early microcomputer designs, so this programmer may appeal to those interested in recreating and restoring such devices. We published an article by Dr Hugo Holden about restoring the graphics cards used with these early computers (see siliconchip.com.au/Series/352). The TL866II can also test many 74and 4000-series logic chips; a total of 226 parts are listed. There is even an auto-detect utility, which can identify logic chips based on their response to stimuli. It had no trouble identifying a 74HC86 XOR gate in our testing, but listed several options for a 74HC14 hex schmitt trigger inverter. This list included some hex inverter gates, including open-collector variants; enough to nail down the basic functionality. XGPro software More components on the bottom, corresponding to the pins in the ZIF socket. The many pins of the onboard microcontroller are routed to these components. siliconchip.com.au Australia's electronics magazine The control program for the TL866II and T56 is called XGPro, and it is regularly updated. We started by using version 10.61, but at the time of writing, version 10.75 was current. This February 2022  71 can be downloaded from www.xgecu. com/MiniPro/xgproV1075_setup.rar Only Windows operating systems are supported, and the manual notes that this includes versions from Windows XP through to Windows 10. There are some reports of operation under Linux using WINE, a framework for launching Windows executables. However, there is a free, open source version of the software which is actively maintained and is primarily for Linux and macOS. It can be downloaded from https://gitlab.com/ DavidGriffith/minipro/ but do note that it’s a command-line program. Screen 1 shows the overall layout. It’s not dissimilar to interfaces like the MPLAB X IPE or even the older PICkit 3 control program, with most of the window filled with a memory layout display. An array of functions are accessible just below the main menu bar, including all the most common actions such as blank check, verify, read, erase and program. The small AND gate symbol at the top right opens the window for identifying logic chips. Screen 2 shows the Logic Test window. Here we’ve selected a 4017 decade counter; the test vectors are shown at the bottom of the window, with the key above. The NEW/EDIT/ DELETE/COPY buttons indicate that it is possible to define further tests by creating a different set of test vectors. The 4017’s sequential nature means that its state depends on both current and previous inputs; the test can handle these sort of chips, plus simple combinational logic. The TEST button runs the test vector for that specific chip, which completes almost instantly. The Auto Find feature runs through the full list of test vectors and takes a few seconds to complete. It lists any matches in the lower panel, and as we noted, it can find multiple matches. Screen 1: most of the XGPro application window is taken up by a tabbed memory view, with assorted function buttons along the top and options along the bottom. The search can be refined by chip type and manufacturer. Various packages are identified separately, even though they could have the same pinout. Even SRAM chips are listed; these cannot be programmed (as their contents would be lost when power is removed), but can be subjected to a quick test sequence. We picked the PIC16F84A in a DIL package to run the program through its paces. The main panel shows tabs for the flash memory (arranged as the 14-bit words that this part uses), EEPROM and configuration bits. A fourth tab shows some part and wiring information (see Screen 4). This includes the connections for using the ICSP header, which matches the standard PICkit layout. So if you have an existing header made up for a Chip selection The Select IC button (upper left of Screen 1) allows the chip type to be selected, while the arrow at right gives a recent history of 10 items. Screen 3 shows a blank search window. The search entry does not do exact matching, but appears to match the sequence of characters entered regardless of any intervening characters. This may be a blessing or a curse, depending on how well you know the part number you are searching for! 72 Silicon Chip Screen 2: the Logic Test window shows the test vectors for a good number of parts. Support for new devices can be added by editing these vectors, while the AUTO FIND function helps identify unknown parts. Australia's electronics magazine siliconchip.com.au the experience is not too different (for PICs) from the older PICkit 2 and PICkit 3 programmers. Other devices Screen 3: the Device selection window gives a few options for narrowing down to a specific part, including type, manufacturer and even package. This is handy due to the vast number of devices that are supported. PICkit, it should work with the TL866II as well. This pinout is also shown if the ICSP option is chosen (see grey inset in Screen 4). Most of the options are similar to other programming applications, but there is a pin detect checkbox. This will alert you if no device is detected in the ZIF socket, although it doesn’t appear to work when connecting via the ICSP header. The read process is shown in Screen 5. The chip ID was detected and the process finished in around half a second. We fitted a PIC16F88 to test that the chip ID was being checked, and it reported an error, so the process is quite robust. Device erasure took a similar amount of time, while a program sequence took around five seconds, including rereading/verification. So We tried a few other compatible devices that we had around the Silicon Chip office. A 32Mbit (4-megabyte) W25Q32JV serial flash memory chip took around seven seconds to read. Assuming the chip is read with a single sequential read command, the serial clock runs just under 5MHz. Writing took about 30 seconds, consisting of eight seconds to erase, 15 seconds to program and seven seconds to verify. This device’s data sheet shows typical erase times of ten seconds while writing the entire memory is expected to take 6.5 seconds. That the erase time is lower than typical is probably due to the chip exceeding its specifications. The specified write time does not account for the data transmission overhead, which we expect would take about at least as long as reading the chip. A 1Mbit (128-kilobyte) SST39SF040 parallel flash memory chip took about four seconds to read, half a second to erase and around 25 seconds to program (so approximately 30 seconds for an erase/program/verify cycle). This is a bit slower than the typical Screen 4: the parts we tested all included a Device Info panel, which shows memory and pinout information. A guide to hooking up the programmer using the ICSP header is available (if it is supported for that part), but not shown in this image. siliconchip.com.au Australia's electronics magazine February 2022  73 The bundle we purchased includes a TL866II programmer, USB cable, an ICSP cable and the adaptors and PLCC chip extractor seen here. Various combinations are available with an assortment of different adaptors. Screen 5: the TL866II works very fast with parts like the PIC16F84A, and appears to complete a read almost instantaneously. Other parts with larger memories can take longer. times shown in the data sheet, but that does not include overheads such as entering programming mode (which on this device needs to be done for each byte written, and requires four bytes to be transmitted). A 256kbit (32-kilobyte) 24LC256 I2C EEPROM took just over four seconds to read and 15 seconds to program, including verification. That isn’t far off the expected reading time, assuming a 100kHz I2C clock and sequential reading, or a 400kHz clock and random reading. The writing appears to have some extra overhead, with around 2.5 seconds of write time expected (512 page writes at 5ms each). So the TL866II appears to be nearly as fast as possible with serial (SPI) devices, but perhaps slower with parallel and I2C devices, depending on protocol overhead. Programming PLDs We got hold of some ATF16V8 PLD parts (specifically the ATF16V8B15PU, from Digi-Key for around $1.70 each) to see how easy it would be to use these parts with the TL866II. We found a binary to 7-segment hexadecimal project online at http://39k.ca/ hex-to-7-segment-decoder-pld/ for this part. Helpfully, it also has a precompiled JED file that we could use to program the chip. JED files are the PLD equivalent of HEX files, but they hold a list of 74 Silicon Chip bits rather than hexadecimal nybbles (also known as nibbles). XGPro will load and save JED files when a PLD is selected as the active part. Reading and verifying the chip took less than a second, while writing this image took around five seconds. There is also an encryption option; we found we had to clear this to allow correct verification. Presumably, the chip cannot be read when encryption is enabled. When rigged up on a breadboard, the ATF16V8 produced the correct signals to drive a 7-segment LED display. While we haven’t worked with PLDs much before, it appears to be quite simple with the TL866II programmer. Program features Each device has separate tabs for its individual memory spaces. For example, a PIC16F84A has tabs for program memory, EEPROM and configuration bits. Any of these can be modified, so it can be used as a basic chip flash memory editor. The file menu offers the option to save and load to either binary or Intel HEX files, so it should be compatible with the output from most compilers. Interestingly, we found that on hand-editing some HEX files, XGPro did not complain if there were checksum mismatches. This could be to your advantage if you don’t like manually calculating checksum data, and wish to edit your Australia's electronics magazine files manually. However, it is concerning that the programmer will apparently happily program corrupted data into a chip without warning you. It also has the ability to load and save the system state as a project, including part numbers and settings, and projects can be password protected. This would be a good way to manage flashing various firmwares to a variety of devices. There is also the facility to control up to four programmers by using the Multi Programming interface. This is accessed by pressing the icon of the chip with four red arrows, shown in Screen 6. This uses the current settings to start a programming sequence with a single keystroke. It is intended to be used in a production environment where multiple identical chips are being processed. Since we only have one programmer, we couldn’t test this out. Conclusion The TL866II is a versatile piece of equipment and, after pulling out the drawers looking for old parts, we were pleasantly surprised by the number it could program. It seems solid, and the interface is simple to use. That it can program a multitude of parts in a ZIF socket without worrying about pinouts and programming adaptors is a feature that we almost immediately took for granted; it’s just that easy to use. siliconchip.com.au If you have stock of older devices or want to dabble with building a microcomputer (or experiment with some of the chips that this entails), it will be a handy tool, and it is one that we will continue to use at Silicon Chip. ► But it cannot work with many newer parts, although there is the option to add definitions to supplement its range. If you’re working with modern parts, then it is probably not going to be very useful. Screen 6: you can use the XGPro control program to program up to four chips in four programmers, all connected to one computer. A single SC keystroke triggers each one. 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